A method which employs microtremor has been introduced for estimating dynamic characteristics of surface
layers, in early 1950. Then usage of this method has received lots of criticism considering uncertainty about
source of microtremor. After an introduction of the Nakamura’s technique (H/V or QTS technique;
Nakamura, 1989), many people have paid a renewed great attention for estimating dynamic characteristics of
ground and structures using microtremor, since clear and reliable information was provided by very simple
and inexpensive noise measurements.
In recent years, although several researchers claimed that theoretical ground of this technique is not clear and
consensus based on experiment couldn’t be reached, there have been many successful experimental studies
based on these technique. Many theoretical studies have been performed, for explaining the amount of types
of waves included in microtremor and checking the applicability of the QTS technique. And some of them
are suggested that the peak on H/V ratio can be explained with the fundamental peak of Rayleigh waves.
From the output of these researches, explanation of microtremor with Rayleigh waves caused some confusion
between users and the author decided to clear out this problem.
The basic idea and the main goal of QTS technique are tried to be re-explained in present paper. The author’s
explanation about the effects of contents of Rayleigh waves in microtremor is also given. Other possible
usage of products from QTS technique (predominant frequency and amplification factor) for hazard
estimation is also given.

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